Iraqi air strike kills 45 ISIS members

By

Sommer Brokaw

The Iraqi military says airstrikes killed at least 45 Islamic State leaders this week. An Iraqi forces member holds the flag of Islamic State militants after retaking the Iraqi city of Mosul in this 2017 file photo. File Photo by Hana Noori/UPI | License Photo

June 23 (UPI) -- Iraqi military officials said Saturday that 45 members of the Islamic State were killed in an airstrike in eastern Syria.

Iraq's Joint Operations Command told Voice of America that F-16 warplanes targeted three houses Friday in Hajin town, where Islamic State leaders had been meeting.

A "deputy war minister," for the Islamic State, its police chief, a "media emir," and a personal courier for its leader were among those killed, the military said in a statement to VOA. The aerial attack was executed with approval from the Syrian government and the U.S.-led coalition. It was one of several carried out since last year.

The Islamic State, which once occupied a third of Iraq's territory, has largely been defeated in the country, but still poses a threat along the Syrian border, the New York Times reported.